Four votes secure Redstone's victory

Ann Redstone

New Hastings district councillor Ann Redstone says she's "absolutely thrilled" to have secured a spot on the council, after the final election result today confirmed she had the votes needed.

In the preliminary results she was only two votes ahead of fellow candidate Jason Whaitiri, but that small lead extended to four votes in the final count, affording her a narrow victory.

This morning she said it had been a tough week waiting to see whether she would be elected.

"I feel for Jason too as I know it would have been hard for him waiting to see how things ended up.

"I commend him - it was the hardest race ever for both of us, and was anybody's game."

With the confirmation she was elected, she said she was now looking forward to getting started and finding out how the council worked.

Mr Whaitiri could not be contacted for comment this morning.

In other final results for Hastings, there was no change apart from each candidate amassing a number of extra votes.